Goal: Declassify an upcoming counter-intelligence report that will reveal the effectiveness of torture in counter-terrorism efforts

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee plans to vote on whether to approve the findings of a long-running investigation into counter-terrorism practices, including enhanced interrogation techniques used by the C.I.A. during the administration of George W. Bush. One of the investigation’s goals is to evaluate whether enhanced interrogation methods were effective in producing useful intelligence. Senator Dianna Feinstein, who heads the Committee, has confirmed that the classified findings, upon being voted upon, would not be made public anytime soon. This is crucial information that the American public should be aware of. Urge the Senate Intelligence Committee to declassify the investigation’s findings as quickly as possible so Americans know the truth about torture.

The investigation allegedly spans 6,000 pages of records that chart the treatment of detainees held in a network of secret prisons as well as those that were illegally extradited to countries were they were often subjected to torture by local authorities. These methods included stress-inducing techniques that many have condemned as torture. The three-year-long investigation is expected to find little evidence that the interrogations produced useful counter-terrorism intelligence. This is in spite of what President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and others in the Republican party have claimed.

The findings of this report must be known to the public. Americans are still coming to terms with the legitimization of torture and of indefinite detention that occurred under the Bush Administration. America needs to know that torture is not an acceptable method of interrogation, and if this report demonstrates that torture did not provide useful intelligence, then this will strengthen this idea in the mind of the American people. Such information should not be hidden from the public as the details of American interrogations were. Demand the release of interrogation information to the public.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Senator Dianne Feinstein,

Soon, the Senate Intelligence Committee that you head will be voting on whether or not to approve the findings of three-year investigation into American counter-terrorism practices. These findings include a report on the effectiveness of the enhanced interrogation techniques introduced under the administration of George W. Bush. As you probably know, it is widely expected that the findings will show that the use of these techniques produced little to no significant counter-terrorism intelligence. Regardless of what the findings show, I urge that you call for its speedy disclosure to the public.

The American people need confirmation that torture does not produce useful information. While a majority of Americans oppose the use of torture today, this was not always the case. During the Bush Administration, torture was justified and touted as a necessary tool in the so-called “War on Terror.” Consequently, American opinion followed suit and came to accept these justifications. America cannot endure this again. We should be leading the way in humane prisoner treatment, not in developing sophisticated methods of “enhanced interrogation.”

Moreover, the American people should know whether or not these techniques work. This will help ingrain the truth — that torture is not only ethically indefensible, but it is also ineffective as an interrogation technique. I ask that you use your power as head of the Senate Intelligence Committee to push for the quick declassification of the upcoming counter-intelligence report.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

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Torture is inhumane, immoral, and illegal. We castigate other countries that engage in such human rights abuses. When we engage in the same practices, we become immoral lawbreakers–and hypocrites–as well. In my opinion, we lost the “war on terror” as soon as our behavior became deplorable and changed who we are.

So you have another false confession. Torture techniques in prison and mental hospitals are used quite frequently to enhance the credentials of the of the facilitator. All of “honest societal normals” are spending the rest of their live in prisons or insane mental institutions which abound.